Welcome to the Melrose Teacher Action Research!

Action research is a systematic form of inquiry that is collective, collaborative, self-reflective, critical, and undertaken by the participants of the inquiry [McCutcheon, G. & Jung, B. (1990). Alternative perspectives on action research. Theory into Practice 29 (3): 144-151]. Action research, sometimes called "practitioner research," is a reflective investigation of a personal interest, problem or challenge. The process begins with the development of questions, which may be answered by the collection of data. Action implies that the practitioner will be acting as the collector of data, the analyst, and the interpreter of results.

"Action research is the process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice jointly; raise awareness of their personal theory; articulate a shared conception of values; try out new strategies to render the values expressed in their practice more consistent with the educational values they espouse; record their work in a form which is readily available to and understandable by other teachers; and thus develop a shared theory of teaching by researching practice."

- John Elliot

MPS Action Research.pptm

Phases of Action Research

Phase I - Problem Identification:	Why do you want to do it? Is it an important and practical problem, something worth your time and effort, something that could be beneficial to you, your students and others? Is the problem stated clearly and in the form of a question? Is it broad enough to allow for a range of insights and findings? Is it narrow enough to be manageable within your time frame and your daily work?
Phase II - Plan of Action	Will you develop and implement a new strategy or approach to address your question? If so, what will it be? Will you focus your study on existing practices? If so, which particular ones? What is an appropriate timeline for what you are trying to accomplish?
Phase III - Data Collection	What types of data should you try to collect in order to answer your question? How will you ensure that you have multiple perspectives? What resources exist and what information from others might be useful in helping you to frame your question, decide on types of data to collect, or to help you in interpreting your findings?
Phase IV - Analysis of Data	What can you learn from the data? What patterns, insights, and new understandings can you find? What meaning do these patterns, insights, and new understandings have for your practice? for your students?
Phase V - Plan for Future Action	What will you do differently in your classroom as a result of this study? What might you recommend to others? How will you write about what you have learned so that the findings will be useful to you and to others?

- Adapted from the St. Louis Action Research Evaluation Committee